As Sweeter a Sting
by OyHumbug
Summary: Starting in 1x03, what if Adalind took a more proactive approach to dealing with Nick instead of allowing Renard to use and manipulate her? After all, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right… though nobody wants to be a seltenvogel. Ugh. (Part One of the Mutually Assured... Series)


_A/N: Well, I said I'd be back. And I'm back. It only took me close to two years. :-P While this piece is a one shot and can be read that way, my idea is that it will be the first in a series that re-explores Grimm (and Nadalind) under the premise that this one shot sets up. Some pieces in the series will be longer than others depending upon the episodes they cover and the amount of Nadalind interaction those episodes inspire. Also, just because of the partnership created in this one shot, this does not mean Monroe is being replaced. Finally, while the title comes from the song "Hunnybee" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra, the story itself was not inspired by the lyrics. Thanks for reading and enjoy!_

_~Charlynn~_

**As Sweeter a Sting  
****A Nadalind One Shot**

There was this… moment.

They were sitting there, across from each other, in that hotel room... he, a grimm, _Nick, _on the bed and she, a hexenbiest, on the chair, and there was just this… energy between them. He was lobbing accusations disguised as questions at her, his words and tone bitter with resentment and a grimm's unreleased judgement. She should have been annoyed with him and scared by the situation she found herself in - harassed and threatened by those irritating mellifers… or perhaps those emotions could have been reversed. And she was. But… peripherally. Instead, Adalind found herself mostly thinking about Sean: their relationship, his reaction to the threat on her life, and how the grimm fit into both situations, and her realizations were eye-opening to say the least.

They also stung like a bitch… or, in this particular case, a bee - a queen bee, because no one, especially a hexenbiest, especially Adalind Schade, liked to admit they had been wrong.

Since the very first moment when she saw the grimm - even before Sean sent her after his aunt, _yet another grimm,_ Adalind had been reacting and running instead of making the situation work to her advantage.

But that stopped now.

"Who do you work for?"

The grimm wasn't about to stop with his diatribe anytime soon, but she cut off his next inquiry with one of her own, shocking him into silence. "Do you really want to know?" Adalind wasn't sure if the sudden quiet that came over him was due to the fact that she actually said something after he had been dominating their _conversation _for so long, or if he didn't know how to respond to her, because he had believed his question to be asked in vain, never actually thinking that she'd tell him anything useful but especially not _that_. Or, hell, maybe he was actually surprised that there was someone she worked for, his question asked more out of habit - those finely honed detective skills revealing themselves - and less out of a knowledge of wesen hierarchy. After all, it was quite obvious what he thought of her… and that wasn't much, so the grimm was certainly capable of believing her to be the end all and be all of evil.

He really was such a baby grimm.

But that made him malleable. That made him susceptible to the influence of a more experienced and more knowledgeable wesen. And that made him attractive to Adalind… from a power perspective. Because, if she (and not Sean) could control the grimm, then no one could control, manipulate, or use her. Plus, it wasn't like there weren't possibilities there. For someone as naive and green as the grimm was, he had potential. Between his instincts, his physical strength that would only increase the more he embraced his heritage, and his position in the Portland Police Department, there were aspects of the grimm Adalind could work with and exploit.

"Because I could tell you - who I work for, but, afterwards, what's to stop you from killing me? I'd have served my purpose, and you'd be free to get your revenge."

"I'm not going to kill you," the grimm stated. If his words were meant to be reassuring, Adalind found them supremely lacking, and, to express that, she leveled a look full of distrust and disbelief in his direction. "What," he defended, though the objection held little heat which told her he wasn't insulted by her doubt, _and _the idea of getting rid of her once she filled him in on the inner workings of the wesen world had occurred to him. "I'm keeping you safe - alive - now, aren't I?"

"Only because you have to," Adalind explained away his reassurance. "Only because you're a cop, and it's your job, and, if you didn't, you'd raise a hell of a lot of questions and possibly get fired." She leaned forward even more, resting her elbows on her knees and mimicking the grimm's own position. "No," she told him slowly, drawing out the moment. "I have a better idea. For me. I have something you want - information, and the only way you're going to get it is if _you _earn _my _trust. The first step in accomplishing this is for you to make sure I don't die today."

"_You _don't trust _me,_" the grimm snorted. The sarcasm was palpable, and Adalind's respect for him grew slightly. Barely. "That's rich! You tried to kill my aunt!"

"It wasn't personal," Adalind excused, shrugging. When it became apparent that her justification wasn't going to be enough, she rationalized further, "besides, she was dying already, and some would argue that my way would have been more merciful. It would have been quick, almost painless. Instead, you prolonged her life for a few more days, and she died after getting into a knife - no, excuse me, a scalpel - fight with a priest."

"I think we both know that there was nothing altruistic about your actions."

"Maybe. Maybe not," Adalind argued, "but either way, as you've already surmised for yourself, it was just a job. I was following orders. But, now, if you agree to work for me, the next time orders come down, I run them by you first - give you a heads up and see if there isn't a way to bend them to _both _of our advantages."

The grimm was silent for a moment, weighing her offer. Adalind took it as a good sign that he didn't immediately dismiss her. It showed her just how desperate he was to find a way to wrap his mind around this new world he now found himself a central figure of - a, if not _the_, driving force behind it. When he did speak, she found that he voiced not only his own thought but hers as well.

"Why?"

Why indeed? In part, she was making the grimm this offer because, in that moment, it felt like the best way to make it out of the day alive. But it was more than just her strong survival instincts motivating her. Earlier, at the precinct, when she expressed to Sean her concerns about the grimm - the fact that he recognized and remembered her from the hospital, the man she worked for _and _the man who she was supposed to mean something more to had brushed off her worries without a second thought. Maybe Sean was okay with dismissing the grimm, but Adalind wasn't. He'd made it this far and this long without losing his head. Granted, it had only been a few weeks, but the grimm had essentially gone in blind. If Adalind wasn't mistaken - and she rarely was, she had been his first woge, and, now, less than a month later, _she_ was depending upon _him _to keep her safe. That was no small accomplishment on his part - to acclimate and adapt that quickly. If the grimm was capable of that, what else was he capable of? Whatever the heights of his abilities, she wanted them to be on her side.

And it wasn't like her decision was unprecedented. In fact, she was taking a page directly out of Sean's handbook. After all, she wasn't the only hexenbiest who had worked for him. Not only had he confirmed as much earlier that afternoon, but also, when she hinted that his relationships with Camilla and Serena had been more than professional, he hadn't denied it. Well, two could play that game, and a girl could do worse for herself than teaming up with Detective Nick Burkhardt.

"Just know that I have my reasons."

"Yeah, I'm going to need more than that." The grimm stood up and advanced towards her. Because Adalind's hands were now clasped together out in front of her body, he was able to rest his own against the arms of her chair, leaning down and into her personal space and forcing her to tilt her head back to maintain their eye contact. Their position more intimate, he lowered his voice. "You say that I need to earn your trust, but that works both ways. Why should I believe that, when all of this is said and done, and you're home safe and sound, that you won't stab me in the back?"

"When I stabbed you before, you saw me coming. If I decide to do it again, I'll give you the same courtesy."

"You're not exactly helping your own case, Miss Schade."

She didn't respond right away. Instead, Adalind took a moment to meet the grimm's gaze head-on, holding back her instincts as a hexenbiest to woge and, instead, looking at him as a man and allowing him the chance to see her as just a woman. His gray eyes tracking her every minute movement, her every nuance, told her he was doing just that. Finally, she said, "look, this isn't easy for me either: asking for help - hell, admitting that I even need help - or depending upon someone else… let alone someone else who is a grimm, but, in this moment, you're my best bet to make it out of this mess alive _and _come out on top when the dust settles."

"After this case," he asked her.

"No," Adalind told him bluntly. To convey just how serious she was, just how serious their situation was, she didn't look away; she didn't even blink. "After the fight for control of Portland. And you."

The grimm was about to say something more - no doubt another dig at her character or a plea for answers he hadn't yet earned - when his partner, the kehrseite cop, called out for help. For a second, the grimm hesitated. Whether he was averse to leaving her alone out of concern for her safety or due to a lack of trust, Adalind liked to think it was the former, though she was self-aware enough to admit it was probably the latter. And, in a way, it was gratifying to know that the grimm recognized her as the force she was, though they'd have to work on his lack of faith if their newfound… and not as established as she would have liked… partnership was to provide her with the results she sought. But, when the swarm of bees flew towards what was supposed to be her secret, police protected hotel suite window, quickly darkening the room as they completely coated the glass, Adalind had a bigger, more pressing concern than the grimm and who was going to benefit the most from his newfound, immature but potentially infinite power.

From that point, things moved quickly. She ran, but the grimm, and the mellifer, and the bees followed. There was a moment when the mellifer had the syringe up to Adalind's neck that she wondered if she had miscalculated - a rare and perhaps, in that particular case, deadly mistake - and the grimm not only wasn't going to accept her offer but was also going to allow her to die. But he didn't, and she lived, and the mellifer was dead at the grimm's hands.

When his partner stepped aside to call in the shooting and wait for the necessary authorities to arrive, she had a moment to speak with the grimm alone and in private. "So, does this mean that we have a deal? You kept me alive, so now I'll keep you in the loop. Discreetly."

The grimm shook his head, though Adalind didn't think he was turning her down. And his next words proved as much. "I'm going to need more than that from you."

"Do you have any idea how big of a risk I'm taking by even _talking _to you? If the person I work for was to find out….

"You mean if _the man _you work for found out." At her questioning look, the grimm explained, "the mellifer said '_he's _coming for you.' I've just narrowed my suspect pool in half."

"Crackerjack detective skills," Adalind mocked. "You're now looking at 300,000 people instead of 600,000… and that's only if the man I work for is from Portland… which neither the mellifer nor I confirmed."

"I'm still further along than I was an hour ago, and it's with no thanks to you. So," the grimm segued as he sidled closer to her, lowering his voice as he glanced around to make sure they were still alone in the hotel's basement. Once he was confident no one would overhear them, he announced, "you owe me."

"Again, if this is about your aunt…."

"It's not," he cut her off.

"Or about me kind of, accidentally, on purpose stabbing you with that neurotoxin…."

"I saved your life." The grimm was literally rocking back on his heels, gloating. She wanted to telekinetically _and _physically throw him down a few flights of stairs. At the same time, she was also horrifyingly attracted to him in that moment. Adalind knew it was the confidence, the bravado, the conceit, but it was still disconcerting. And unwanted. Mostly. It was one thing to find the detective cute when she unsuspectingly met his gaze across the sidewalk outside of her favorite coffee shop, but it was an entirely different matter to have a sudden craving to take a grimm home and keep him in her bed for a week. At least. Plus, she had Sean. Or, well, she wanted to have Sean. He was a half zauberbiest. He was a royal - bastard, maybe, but still a royal. The grimm was just her backup plan at this point… a backup plan whose next words brought Adalind back to the moment at hand. "So, like I said, the way I see it is that you now owe me."

"Fine," she relented; she agreed. The single word felt like ash in her mouth. It tasted even worse. "What do you want," Adalind asked, though she was aware that her tone was anything but conciliatory or gracious. "Free legal advice?"

"I want information." When she went to protest, the grimm waylaid her complaints with the acknowledgement, "and I know that you're not going to tell me who you work for… yet, but that doesn't mean you can't tell me other wesen things." When she was silent, he elucidated further. "As you've made it abundantly clear, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to this grimm stuff." Adalind lifted a brow to mock his word choice, but she, otherwise, remained quiet. "While, on the other hand, you know all about it. So, you're going to help me. When I have questions, you'll have answers."

While perhaps an empty effort, she wasn't going down without a fight. "Don't you grimms have books for this sort of thing?"

"We do. But I can't learn everything about being a grimm and about wesen from books, and, sometimes, when I'm on a case, I don't have time to drive out to my aunt's trailer, read through a bunch of dusty books - half of which are in languages I can't read anyway, and figure things out on my own while my suspect continues their crime spree."

"So, I help you out on a case, and then we're even? You'll trust me to tell you what I can about my boss' plans, and I'll trust you to keep me safe."

"Oh, this isn't a one time deal, Miss Schade… unless that's how little you value your own life." Adalind glared at him, but she didn't protest. "I kept you alive, and, now, you're going to keep me alive with your knowledge, so I can keep this city safe from others like you."

Distantly, she could hear footsteps and voices approaching, so she knew they had to make the rest of their conversation quick. "You better be discrete," Adalind threatened in lieu of actually agreeing to the grimm's demands. "We can't be seen together. No showing up at my office. No house calls. And no one can know about this."

"Hey," the grimm held his hands up in defense. "That works better for me, too."

After she had given her statement and was finally free to go home, Adalind found herself contempleting her new, secret arrangement with the grimm. While the mellifer had failed to kill her, that didn't necessarily mean that she had made it out of the day unscathed. Yes, the partnership with the grimm had been her idea, but that didn't mean their negotiations had gone the way she had wanted them to go or how she had planned. But who exactly had been deceived? Sean for sure, but it also felt like she and the grimm had been as well. To what end, though, was still to be seen. In the meantime, she'd lick the wounds to her ego in private and dread the day when the grimm came a calling, one of her many marks due. Alive and safe - for now - or not, this was one sting Adalind would be feeling the pain from for some time - too much time - to come.


End file.
